States Wonder: What Happens To Us After Health Law Ruling?

California stands to lose big.

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THURSDAY, June 21, 2012 (Kaiser Health News) — States are anxiously considering the effect of the pending court decision. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott says his state will comply with the health law if it is upheld. And in California, officials and lawmakers worry over what a ruling could mean for plans to institute consumer protections.

California To Lose Big If U.S. Healthcare Law is Scrapped If the Supreme Court scraps the Affordable Care Act, California will lose out on as much as $15 billion annually in new federal money. State officials say that would kill expanding coverage to the poor and uninsured. The state is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the federal healthcare law because of its large number of uninsured residents — about 7 million people, or nearly 20 percent of California's population.Los Angeles Times

Millions in California Will Remain Uninsured After Health Care Reform Up to 10 percent of California’s 40 million residents will not have health insurance after national health care reform begins in 2014, according to new numbers released from University of California, Berkeley last week. That contradicts popular belief that nearly everyone will be covered by insurance in two years, when the Affordable Care Act (passed into federal law in 2010) takes full effect. Doctors and clinics that traditionally provide care to the uninsured are working to make sure the money to treat those patients does not disappear.HealthyCal.org

Imminent Court Ruling Could Undercut California's Health Plans It is clear some provisions of the law will almost certainly remain intact in California no matter how the court rules. The state already has enacted its own legislation prohibiting most insurers from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions and allowing people up to age 26 to remain on their parents' policies. Yet a reversal of part or all of President Barack Obama's signature health care law could deeply frustrate the administration's broader health care goals.Sacramento Bee

Senate Rejects ACA/Exchange Bill If the Supreme Court overturns part or all of the Affordable Care Act in a ruling expected within the next 10 days, California should be ready, according to Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach). Harman yesterday introduced SB 1321, which would require the California Health Benefit Exchange to submit a report to the Legislature within 90 days, if the Supreme Court reverses any part of the ACA. The Senate Committee on Health rejected the measure.California Healthline

Maryland and the Supreme Court Decision On Health Care ReformInitial estimates show about 180,000 Marylanders would gain insurance through the exchange and 84,000 through Medicaid's expansion in the first year, according to the Governor's Office of Health Reform. The exchange and Medicaid expansion could move ahead without the subsidies but other funding would be needed, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said. Requiring the public to buy insurance in Maryland might be a tougher sell but "would be part of the conversation," he said.Baltimore Sun

Gov. Scott: Florida Will Comply If Health Law Is Upheld Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) said Wednesday that his state will comply with all portions of the federal health care law if it is upheld by the Supreme Court. Scott added that he is "very optimistic" the Affordable Care Act will be declared unconstitutional, calling the law a "disaster for patients." "Every government program in the world rations care," the former health care executive told reporters. "This is going to be an unbelievable rationing of care." The Hill

State Could Face Big Revenue Loss If Patient Protection Act Is Overturned With the U.S. Supreme Court to rule this week or next on national health care reform, Connecticut officials are holding their collective breath, waiting to see if they must choose between cutting health care benefits for the poor and spending more state money to replace the hundreds of millions in federal dollars that will vanish. Both Connecticut's Medicaid for Low-Income Adults — commonly known as LIA — and the state's plans to serve a dramatically expanded general Medicaid population, could be thrown into legal limbo, depending on how the high court interprets the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Shortly after the act passed in 2010, Connecticut became the first state to move its state-funded health program for poor adults without children under the federal Medicaid umbrella.CT Mirror

Health Care LeadersDiscuss Effects Of Upcoming Supreme Court Decision Leaders of some of the Triangle’s largest health care organizations met Tuesday to discuss the impact of the federal health care reform law as the U.S. Supreme Court gets ready to deliver its verdicts on the law’s various provisions. A ballroom at the North Ridge Country Club was filled with hundreds of small business owners looking to get some idea of what the health insurance world would look like in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling.North Carolina Health News

Much At Stake With Pending 'Obamacare' Court Ruling "There is a human cost here," Gov. Pat Quinn told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday. "We're talking about thousands of people with pre-existing conditions who now have insurance and thousands of young adults who are now covered by their parents' insurance. We're talking about people who are finally receiving the preventative care they need to lead healthier lives and avoid illnesses." ... "If the Medicaid expansion is thrown out, that would have a devastating impact for the county health system," said Marisa Kollias, spokeswoman for the Cook County Health and Hospitals System that operates the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County.Chicago Sun-Times

Colorado Businesses Divided On Health Law From the White House to the Capitol buildings in both Washington, D.C. and Colorado, elected officials and health policy experts are eagerly awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that could be the most significant in decades. ... In the U.S., businesses have for decades provided health care to employees. Now business leaders are at the center of the debate.Health Policy Solutions

Florida to Carry Out Health Law if Upheld by CourtFlorida's Republican governor — one of the staunchest opponents of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul — says his state will carry out the law if the Supreme Court upholds it. Gov. Rick Scott told reporters Wednesday "if it is the law of the land, then we are going to comply.” The Associated Press

This article was reprinted fromkaiserhealthnews.orgwith permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

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